Flyers not displeased, even with shootout loss to Islanders

SIXTY-FIVE minutes.

One-hundred thirty-eight shots blasted by both teams, including the 43 attempts that were blocked and the 32 that missed the net entirely.

Zero goals.

Strange game. Familiar result.

Somehow, when it was all over and fans were awakened from their slumber, Ilya Bryzgalov skated off with his 25th career shutout last night while the New York Islanders celebrated their 1-0, shootout win over the Flyers at the other end of the ice.

Wait, what?

"That's a first," Bryzgalov said. "It's much nicer when you win the game."

More important, last night marked the first time the Flyers had skated to a snoozing stalemate through both regulation and overtime since Dec. 6, 2005, against Calgary. It was the latest they had gone in a game without scoring since Ryan Potulny broke a scoreless tie with 16.5 seconds left in regulation on Feb. 3, 2010, in Edmonton.

The loss pushed the Flyers' winless streak to three games - they are now 1-2-2 in their last five games - but you wouldn't know that after the game.

The Flyers were all smiles in the locker room - even though they posted the franchise's second-most shots (45) ever in a shutout loss. The dubious record of 48 was set back on Feb. 15, 1969, in a 3-0 loss to Chicago.

"We couldn't find the back of the net," Danny Briere said after his first game back from a concussion. "We did what we wanted. We created chances. We had a lot of shots. Barely any turnovers, which was good to see.

"That's going to happen once in a while."

It was the third time the Flyers - with the league's second-best offense - were held off the scoresheet this season.

Last night, Evgeni Nabokov nearly singlehandedly guaranteed that the Flyers will not collect at least 10 points in the season series against the Islanders for the first time since 2006-07. They were 26-2-0 against the Islanders since 2007.

No matter the opportunity - a point-blank one-timer in the first period from Jaromir Jagr that was deflected out of play by a sliding New York defenseman, a broken stick from Claude Giroux on the follow-through with an empty net in front - the Flyers couldn't find a way to beat Nabokov.

What more could the Flyers have done?

"More than 86 attempts?" coach Peter Laviolette asked. "There were bodies there [at the net] at times. Look, we didn't score tonight. But it wasn't for a lack of trying.

"It's one thing when you're not getting the opportunities and you're not getting the looks, but there were opportunities where we did have guys [at the net] and it just didn't go."

It didn't go in the shootout for the Flyers, either, as they were limited to attempts from just Briere and Wayne Simmonds as both Frans Nielsen and John Tavares beat Bryzgalov.

Bryzgalov is now just 2-for-10 stopping attempts in the breakaway contest this season, as the Flyers fell to 20-39 all-time in shootouts - the worst record of any NHL team since the shootout was instituted in 2005. Four of their last seven games have gone to a shootout.

"We all played well tonight," Bryzgalov said. "I think we played really well. I think it's just a bad taste in the mouth to lose the game in a shootout."

The positive, though, is that the Flyers earned a much-needed point in the standings.

"We were ready to play," Briere said. "At least we were playing the game the right way. There's going to be times during the season when you play the right way and don't get the points and vice versa.

"Good things are going to start happening at some point."

"The hot goaltender was probably the main reason," Jagr said. "The second reason, maybe we need to go a little bit harder on the chances [after]. Sometimes you have so many that you don't take it serious because you think the next chance is going to come. Next thing you know, the game is over."

And the fans in attendance probably would have cheered the final buzzer as much as a win. At least then they could have gone home to sleep in a bed instead of upright in a rigid, red seat.

Ilya Bryzgalov is just the third goaltender to reach his 25th shutout milestone in a Flyers uniform, joining Bernie Parent and Marty Biron. It was Bryzgalov's second shutout of the season . . . The Flyers are 3-5 this season when posting 40 or more shots and are 8-10-1 over the last two seasons when doing so . . . This is the first time the Flyers have gone three straight games without picking up at least one win.

read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at

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